After a month of litigation, the US authorities were finally able to terminate the $1 billion deal between the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager and the Binance.US cryptocurrency exchange.

U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York Jennifer Rearden granted the U.S. Justice Department’s request and put the deal on hold. The March 27 court order states that the decision was made after considering oral arguments and written submissions from all parties. However, details will be released at a later date.

Earlier in March, a federal judge for the Southern District of New York rejected a U.S. government proposal to halt the deal, saying the wait would hurt the company’s customers. Southern District of New York Attorney Damian Williams argued that approval of the deal – or parts of the deal – should be delayed until appeals are heard in higher courts.

Crypto broker Voyager filed for bankruptcy back in July 2022, and starting from February of this year, it began to actively sell its assets. According to the Lookonchain analytics portal, Voyager sold 1,449 ETH through Wintermute. Sales were carried out for USDC. In total, Voyager received 2.25 million – $1,553 per ETH.

Previously, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) accused Binance of not being registered in the United States and violating federal laws regulating commodity markets. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao denies these allegations.